THAT AWKWARD MOMENT WHEN
by MissSophieStarr
Summary: Time: Friar Park, summer 1990 Plot: When Dhani comes home from a friend's house, he thinks he has the house to himself. But when he hears a noise upstairs and goes to investigate, he sees just how wrong he is!
1. THAT AWKWARD MOMENT WHEN

"I'm home!" Dhani called as he walked through the front door. He was answered by his echo. He went into the kitchen and dropped his overnight bag into a chair. "Mum? Dad? Anybody?" Silence. "Huh. I guess it's just me," Dhani said to himself. He shrugged and grabbed a cream soda from the refrigerator, then he headed to the family room. He flopped down on the camel couch, kicked his feet on to the coffee table, and started boredly flipping through channels. He took a swig of his orange drank. He was prepared for a day to himself where he could be the king of the castle.

Suddenly, he heard a thud coming from somewhere upstairs. Dhani froze. Was there someone in the house? A burglar maybe? He slowly pried off his Nike sneakers to soften his foot steps, then crept silently up the main staircase.

Dhani's heart was pounding in his chest as he crept through the labyrinth of hallways and corriders that made up the upper level of his house. He clutched the cream soda tightly in his fist, prepared to use the glass bottle as a weapon if necessary. Dhani finally found the source of the thud; his cat, Tiger, was sprawled out on the hall table and had knocked a picture frame to the floor. "Stupid cat," Dhani grumbled. He shooed his cat off the table and picked up the picture. It was a photograph of him when he was little, and his father. They were both sitting under the old ash tree in the garden, playing guitars. George's eyes were crossed and he was sticking his tongue out at the camera. Dhani smiled as he set the frame back on the table.

Ever since he was little, he was always proud that he had such an awesome dad. His dad was a world-famous rock star, he had about ten cars in the garage, he loved race cars, he got to travel all over the world for work, and had scored a higher number of women in his life than most people did on their SATs. True, George was an avid gardener and he waxed his chest, and he was no stranger to jewelery or hairpsray, but that wasn't important. George just took care of his appearence, that's all. And Dhani figured that his father just did those things to please his mother (gross). He still thought that his dad was just plain awesome.

Dhani turned to go when he realized he heard something. It was music. Jazz, it sounded like. He looked up and saw, at the far end of the hallway, a slighty open door. It was one of the many guest rooms. Light spilt from the small crack and flooded that entire end of the corrider. It certianly couldn't be George and Olivia, since they would use their own bedroom if they had a mid-day "meet-up", and a robber probably wouldn't be listening to Barry White while he robbed a celebrity's mansion. Dhani's curiousity was peaked. He slowly tip-toed to the door. He got on his knees, gently set his soda aside and peeked in.

At first, it looked like the room was unoccupied. The mossy green walls held no pictures other than the generic painting that hung above the dresser. The dark green bed spread looked messy, like someone had been laying down on it and had moved. Maybe his mother just forgot to tidy up the room last time they had guests. Then Dhani heard the tiny _click!_ of something glass being set down on wood and somebody humming. He turned and saw someone standing at the vantiy. It was a man, but he was wearing women's lingerie. Dhani opened the door a teeny bit more to get a better look. He could see the man's reflection in the oblong mirror. It was George, and he was putting on make-up and cheerfully humming.

Dhani froze in fear. His blood was ice-cold. Oh god, please let my dad be rehearsing for a Monty Python thing, Dhani prayed.

"You almost ready for me in there, baby?" An all-too-familiar voice called from the bathroom. "Almost," George anwsered in a feminine, giggly voice. Dhani's stomach churned in disgust. He balled his fists in anger. His dad was queer!


	2. THAT AWKWARD MOMENT WHEN Chapter 2

Dhani couldn't believe what he was seeing. His father, who for so long had been his hero and the epitome of manliness, was now wearing women's underwear and applying make-up. Dhani wanted to vomit in disgust. He was about to charge into the bedroom and put a stop to this insanity, but he heard the bathroom door open and close. Ringo Starr, his father's best friend and Dhani's "uncle" walked in. He was stark naked. Ringo put his arms around George's tiny waist. "Oh my," he said, resting his chin on George's shoulder. "Who's that pretty girl in the mirror?"

George giggled. "Me!"

Ringo smiled and kissed his cheek. "Who's that pretty girl?"

"Me!"

Dhani looked at his father through his reflection in the mirror. The whorish-shade of bright red lipstick that was painted smoothly on his lips looked so out of place amongst the stubble that he was growing on his chin. His dark eyes were traced with charcol eye-liner and he was wearing about ten-pounds of mascara. It made his eyes look bigger and brighter than usual. Dhani shuddered. It was so gross, so...unnatural...

Ringo reached down and started rubbing in-between George's legs. "Who's that pretty girl?" He asked again. George giggled and moaned, melting back into Ringo's arms. "Me! It's me! I'm the pretty girl."

Ringo whirled George around and sat him up on the vanity. George wrapped his arms around around Ringo's neck and his legs around his abdomen. He crushed his painted lips to Ringo's. They started making out like horny teenagers.

Soon, George pulled away. His lipstick was smeared and all over Ringo's face. "Bed," he panted. Ringo hooked an arm under George's butt and laid him back on the bed. They started kissing again. Ringo's tongue gently prodded George's pleading mouth. George moaned. "Oh Ringsy..." Dhani wanted so badly to run away, but he was rooted to the floor. He wanted to scream for them to please stop, but his voice was stuck in his throat. It was like a horrible accident. He couldn't look away.

"Ringo, fuck me," George begged. He was grinding upward, the lace of his panties rubbing against Ringo's exposed erection, making both of them moan. "Fuck me hard. Make me your bitch!"

Ringo's frantic fingers felt desperately around for George's bra clasp. George undid Ringo's ponytail, dark hair falling down and obscuring their faces. George kept moaning louder and louder. His erection was growing bigger. It was poking through the leg of George's panties. A tiny sound escaped from Dhani's throat. George and Ringo whipped their heads around and saw Dhani's eye staring back at them through the crack in the door. They quickly covered themselves, George crossing his arms over his chest like he had something to hide. "D-Dhani! O-oh my god, I-I..." Dhani didn't stick around to hear it. He jumped up, knocking his soda over, orange pop spilling out over the blue carpet and fizzing. Dhani bolted to his bedroom, slammed the door, and and dove into his bed. He buried his face in his pillow and cried.

"My life is over!" He wailed. What was he going to do? Once his friends caught word of this, it would totally destroy his social life. Everyone would mock him for being the son of a panty-wearing queer. Nobody would hang out with him, he'd never be able to leave house again, and he'll probably die alone. And probably worst of all, that smoking hot bird from his biology class, Diana, would never speak to him again (not that she had before. But Dhani knew that she had the hots for him. He could ifeel/i it). Dhani cried harder.

He cried for nearly a half-hour, then there was a gentle rapping at his door. "Dhani?" His father called softly. "Can daddy come in? He needs to talk to you." Daddy? What the hell was with that? George had never referred to himself as "daddy" since Dhani was five. Ugh, my god, dad is so fucking gay! Dhani thought to himself in despair. "Piss off!" He groaned, his face still in the pillow. George sighed but came in anyway. He was wearing an elegant, pink satin bathrobe. It was tied tightly at his waist, but it hung off his shoulders. All of his make-up had been wiped off, but his lips were still faintly red. He sat down on the edge of Dhani's bed. "Dhani..." He began, lightly laying his hand on Dhani's shoulder. Dhani shook him off. George sighed again.

"Dhani, daddy is so sorry that you had to see that. It wasn't something you were ever supposed to see..."

"No shit!"

"Look, Dhani, I know that you're very angry with me right now, but please don't yell at me..."

"I'm not yelling!" Dhani cried. He turned his head to the side, exposing his face. His face was red and splotchy, snot dripping from his nose and tears spilling from his eyes. George started dabbing his son's eyes with the hem of the robe's sleeve. Dhani's eye flew open.

"Oh no!" He groaned. "Now you're wearing mum's robe, too!?" Dhani started crying harder. George pulled his hand away. "Dhani, I'm so sorry..."

"Sorry about what? That you're a dirty, no-good queer?"

"Dhani!" George gasped, deeply hurt.

"What? It's true!" Dhani wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and glared at his father. "What's so wrong with the life you have now, dad? You have a wife, a son, millions of pounds at your disposal, millions of fangirls who'd drop their panties at the mere mention of your name..." "Dhani..." "What's wrong with it?" "N-nothing, but..." "But what?"

George burst into tears. "But I'm not happy!" He buried his face in his hands and wept. "Oh Dhani, I'm so sorry! I know that it was wrong of me to keep this a secret for so many years, b-but I had no choice!" Dhani stared and watched his father cry. "So...mum and me mean nothing to you?"

"N-no," George sniffled, wiping his eyes. "You two mean the world to me. I love you, and I do love your mother, but I'm just not _in_ love with her." Dhani rolled his eyes, feeling that his father was blatantly lying. "Yeah, whatever." He paused. "I'm sorry that having me got in the way of your fun."

"Dhani, you didn't get in the way of anything. If anyone did, it was Zak." It took Dhani a moment to process that. Zak was born in 1965... "Wait, you've been queer for _that_ long?!"

"I've been queer much longer than that."

"What?!"

"Dhani, I didn't choose to be gay; I was born this way. But me and Ringo have been together since I was about nineteen..."

"WHAT?!"

George nodded slowly. "Believe me Dhani, Ringo and I would've been openly gay if we had a choice, but we didn't. Being gay was illegal at the time, so we swore to secrecy until it was at legal. We dated girls so that no one would figure us out. But... but then Maureen kept pressuring Ringo to have sex with her. And he did, but the condom he wore broke and then..." George shut his eyes and took a shaky breath. "Then Zak happened. Ringo couldn't just abandon her with a baby, so we decided that we'd come out when Zak was eighteen. But then Ringo just kept having more children, and then I had you... It just keeps setting us back a few more years. But it's well worth the wait."

"Damn. Uncle Ringo must've been using some real shitty condoms."

George stared out into space, a dreamy, toothy grin on his face. "With a dick as big as his, it's no wonder they kepy tearing..."

Dhani sat bolt upright then. "Okay, that's it! I've had enough!" He scrambled out of bed and dug out one of his many pairs of sneakers from his closet. "Dhani, w-what are you doing?" George asked nervously. "What does it look like I'm doing?" Dhani snapped as he fumbled into his shoes. "I'm leaving." He stood up and stormed downstairs. He went into the kitchen where Ringo was sitting at the table, sipping coffee and nervously smoking a ciggie. He was wearing George's flannel bathrobe. Dhani glared at him as he picked up his overnight bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"H-hey, Dhani..."

"Shut up, home-wrecker!"

George came in then. He flitted to Ringo's side and threw his arms around him. "Dhani!" He said tearfully to his son. "Don't be mean to Ringo! This isn't his fault." Dhani rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He stomped out of the room and to the front door. George and Ringo ran after him. "Dhani, where are you going?" Ringo asked.

"I'm going back to to Tyler's!" He shouted over his shoulder. He stormed out of the manor and slammed the ornate front door, leaving his father to sob into the chest of his lover.


	3. THAT AWKWARD MOMENT WHEN Chapter 3

Dhani picked up his bike. It was leaning against the hedges by the front walk, right where he left it. He hopped on it and peeled out, away from Friar Park and into the city. He pedaled until he reached Sunny Vista, an apartment complex in London's east end. Dhani went to the third floor, and knocked on the door of room 3C. A plump, pretty woman of thirty-six-years answered. "Oh, hello Dhani!"

"Hey, Mrs. Caline," Dhani said breathlessly. "I-is Ty still home?"

"Why, yes, of course. He's playing video games in his room." Mrs. Caline stepped aside and let Dhani in. Dhani shuffled in, and nearly collasped into a chair in the kitchen. His face was bright red and dripping with sweat. "Dhani, are you okay? Do you need some water?" Dhani nodded. "Yes'm. Please." Mrs. Caline fetched him a glass of water. Dhani quickly guzzled it down. "T-thank you," he said, setting the glass on the table. "Are you feeling alright?" Mrs. Caline asked, gingerly pressing her wrist against Dhani's forehead. Her kind green eyes were filled with concern. "You look dreadful."

Dhani nodded slowly. His brain was stilling vibrating in his head from when he nodded the first time. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. I just rode my bike real fast to get here."

"Oh? How come?"

"I, uh, just wanted to see if I could beat my record of how long it takes me to bike here. My record is eleven minutes," Dhani lied. He wasn't sure why he was even lying. He didn't have to tell Mrs. Caline anything about why he was here. He could've just said that it was an emergency. "Oh!" Mrs. Caline laughed. "Did you beat your record?"

"No."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She gently patted his head. "Maybe the next one, then."

"Maybe," Dhani said. He slid out of his seat and ran to Tyler's room to avoid having to answer any more questions.

Dhani's best friend Tyler was sprawled in a lawn chair, playing his Super Nintendo (SNES). "Hey Dhani," Tyler said as Dhani walked in. He didn't even need to peel his eyes away from his television screen to know that he walked in. Tyler and Dhani had been best friends since Year 3 (that's second grade to you Yanks), and they've been inseparable ever since. They knew each other's mannerisms, all their vocal ticks, their bad habits, and yes, even their walking patterns. It was a bit strange, and at times, it would become borderline homo-erotic. But both boys were completely unaware of that.

"Hey Ty," Dhani said, shutting the door. He sat down on the unmade bed and faced Tyler. "Can we talk?"

"Just a sec dude, I'm almost done with this level of Super Mario."

"Ty, c'mon! You can play video games anytime, but right now, I'm having a crisis."

"Yeah, yeah, just a sec."

"Ty..."

"Just a sec!"

"Tyler..."

"Hang on!"

Dhani sighed and unplugged the SNES. The T.V. screen went black and Mario, Yoshi, and Luigi vanished, all unsaved data gone forever. Tyler's jaw dropped. "What the hell, man?! Why'd you do that?"

"Ty, I told you that I needed to talk to you."

"Can't it wait?"

"No."

"But I was saving Dinosaur Land..."

"Ty..." Dhani said softly. Tears were welling up in his big brown eyes. "Please." Tyler sighed. He knew this was serious. He leaned forward, putting his elbow on his knee and his chin in his hand. "Okay Dhannerz. I'm all ears."

Dhani's face turned beet red and he looked down at his feet. He wasn't prepared to actually talk. He wasn't sure what he should say. "Well, uh, y-you see..."

"What? You gotta speak up, man."

"Ty, y-you've got to promise that you keep what I've got to tell you a secret. Got it?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

"Ty, I'm serious. If you even tell your mum about this, swear to God, I am gonna cut off your nipples and feed them to my cat." Tyler's eyes widened. "Okay okay! Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye," he said, drawing an X on his chest and pointing to his eyeball. "I won't frickin' tell anyone!"

"Good."

Tyler put his hands defensively on his chest. "Jesus Christ, man! That was dark!"

"Sorry."

"Well, whatever. What is it that's so damn important that you're planning on mutilating me?" Dhani took a deep breath. "Tyler... my dad's gay." Both boys sat there in silence for what felt like the longest time. "Is...is that it?" Tyler finally asked. Dhani nodded, his eyes on the floor. "Oh. Dude, don't scare me like that!" Tyler said, kicking an empty soda can at Dhani's shin. "I thought that you, like, killed a guy or something!"

"Dhani looked at him. "What do you mean? This is serious business, Ty!"

"So what? You're dad's a poof. Big whup. The poor guy can't help it."

"Ty, you don't _get_ it! My dad was wearing panties and putting on make-up and perfume..."

"Oh, so he's just a cross-dresser," Tyler said thoughtfully. "I can see the confusion, but that doesn't mean he's gay..."

"No, Ty, he's _gay_."

"How do you know? Was he, like, making out with a dude?"

"Y-yeah..."

"Who? Did you know him?"

Dhani nodded. "I-it was my Uncle Ringo..."

"Oh. Damn. Now that Aspel and & Co. interview from a few years back makes perfect sense!"

"Shut up, Ty!"

"Sorry." Tyler paused. "How long has he been gay?"

"He's says forever, but that he and Uncle Ringo have been together since he was nineteen."

"Who was ninteeen?"

"My dad."

"Oh." The boys were quiet for a long time. Dhani was gently kicking an empty soda can around, and Tyler was fidgeting awkwardly in his seat. Finally, Tyler spoke up. "You know, Dhani, at least you _have_ a dad. All I've got is me mum." Dhani nodded. He was right. Tyler's dad died when he was really little. Tyler had always been jealous of Dhani's dad, especially since the boys thought that George was so cool. "I mean, you're dad is really no different now then he was yesterday," Tyler pointed out. "He was always gay. It's just that now, there's no more secrets."

"I guess so."

"He's still your dad," Tyler countinued. "Just because he's gay doesn't mean that that's gonna change. He's still going to be your totally awesome dad, the guy who has golden records, a humongous mansion, gets to take you to exotic countries on his tours... Hell, your dad let's you skip school and go on a yacht whenever you feel like! Gay or not, your dad is so fucking awesome!"

That's true. "Yeah, I guess. But what about everyone else? How is this gonna effect me?"

"How do you mean?"

"If my dad comes out of the closet, everyone will see me as the son of a panty-wearing queer! No one at school will wanna hang out with me, you'll probably never wanna be seen with me in public again, and Diana will never speak to me. Oh, god I can't have that; her pretty blond hair smells like green apples! And people will send my family death threats, they'll burn crosses on our front lawn- Ty, do you _know_ how big my front lawn is?! Crosses will be burning there and it'll look like that candle Chrstmas tree from that old Coca-Cola commerical-" Tyler then slapped Dhani. He grabbed Dhani by the shoulders and shook him. "Calm down! Get a hold of yourself! You're getting outta hand!"

"Okay, okay!" I'm sorry!"

Tyler let him go. He sat down next to Dhani and draped an arm around his shoulders. "Look Dhan, I know that this is all a little confusing to you, but you've gotta calm down. Your noggin is moving too fast, man."

"S-sorry."

"It's okay. Now, let's try and approach this logically. True, they're might be some backlash to this if your dad and Ringo come out. People might send death threats, but they're just going to send them to your dad. And on the bright side, you're white. I'm pretty sure that the Klu Klux Klan is gonna stay out of this." Dhani rolled his eyes. "Gee Ty, that makes me feel _loads_ better!"

"You're welcome."

"Ty, I know you're just trying to help, but you just don't understand. I walked in on them making out and grinding against each other. I could see their dicks, for corn's sake!"

"I know. You saw something no child should ever have to walk in and see their parent do. But Dhani, do you think it would've been any better if you had walked in on your _mum_ and dad doing that?"

"No, I guess not..."

"Exactly! You're just upset about seeing something like that. Period."

"I suppose..."

"And Dhani, if it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure your dad and Ringo are gonna keep the whole "panty-wearing thing" under tight wraps. I mean, most straight people don't go around telling people what happens in _their_ bedrooms, so I'm pretty sure they won't."

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess that's true." Dhani sat back and thought for a minute. Tyler was right. His dad couldn't help how he was. And it wasn't like he was planning on Dhani walking in right then. Dhani remembered what his dad had said, about being gay was illegal in the sixties. Dhani had learned in social studies class that gay people were often beaten and arrested back then, much like black people were back in 1950's America. Poor dad, Dhani thought. He was just a scared little kid then. It must've been awful to feel like you were a monster just for being in love. He must've been so scared and confused... Maybe he still is. And I yelled at him just for being who he is.

Dhani stood up. "Thanks for the speech Ty, but I've got to get home. I need to apologize to my dad." Tyler stood up. "I'm going with you. I wanna make sure you actually apologize." The boys ran out of the room then. "Mum, I'm going to Dhani's house!" Tyler called as they ran to the front door. "We're taking our bikes!"

"Wear your helmets!" His mother replied.

"No!" The boys ran downstairs and outside. They took their bikes from the bike rack. "Hey Dhani?"

"Yeah?"

"You shouldn't care if Diana ever talks to you again or not. She's a slut."

"Shut up!" Dhani laughed, playfully punching Tyler in the shoulder. They hopped on their bikes and rode away from the parking lot. They went into central London to cut through the city. They turned onto Main Street and had to screech to a halt. There was a huge throng of people gathered in the middle of the road. "What's going on?" Dhani wondered aloud. "There was a wreck," a kid, about ten or eleven answered. She turned around to face Dhani and Tyler. Her eyes were wide. "It's really bad. My mama said they're were two famous guys in it." All the colour drained from Dhani's face. "W-who were these famous guys?"

"I forget their names, but one of them had a really funny name..."

"Was it Ringo Starr?"

The girl snapped her fingers. "Yeah! That's it!"

"Oh god," Dhani breathed. He jumped off his bike and pushed it to the ground. He started elbowing his way through the crowd. "Dad? Dad!" He cried, trying to make his voice heard over the hum of the crowd. Dhani finally made his way through and saw the wreck. His father's black DeLorean was completely obliterated; it had been side-swiped by a large tractor-trailer. Suitcases and packing boxes full of clothes and other things were strewn over the road. The truck driver was being interveiwed by a cop. "I-I swear, I didn't see 'em comin'!" He slurred drunkenly. "T-they came outta nowhere..." Dhani saw Ringo sitting on the sidewalk. A blanket was draped over his shoulders. He held a cigarette in his trembling hand. He had bandages, bruises, and cuts on his face and all up his arms, but he looked over wise alright. He was mostly shaken up. "Uncle Ringo!" Dhani cried as he ran over. Ringo looked up, surprised to see him. "D-Dhani?"

Dhani dropped to his knees and threw his arms around him. "Uncle Ringo, what happened?"

"I-I'm not really sure. Olivia came home not long after you left. S-she saw George crying and wearing her panties, and me kissing him. She kicked your father out. We were driving... trying to find a hotel till we could figure a-a plan. One second, w-we were chatting and George was beginning to perk up, and the next..." Ringo let out a ragged breath. "The next, I woke up on the ground and saw them loading George into an ambulance..."

"Oh my god," Dhani whispered. Tyler ran over then. "Jesus Christ! Is everyone okay?"

"D-d-daddy was hit!" Dhani wailed. He felt like he was a helpless little kid for crying, but he couldn't help it. He was terrified that his father died mad at him. "Oh god," Tyler said. "Where is he?"

"H-hospital," Ringo answered. A police officer walked over. He started asking Ringo some questions about the accident. No, I didn't see the truck coming. No, our light was green, his was red. Yes, I wore my seatbelt, but George didn't. The officer nodded and jotted down the last bit. "Okay, got it."

Dhani sniffled. "I-I want my daddy."

"Oh my, you're the Harrison boy!" The officer realized. Dhani nodded slowly. "Would you like me to give you a lift to the hospital?" the cop offered. "Yes please!"

"Can I come with?" Ringo asked.

"Me too!" Tyler added. The officer sighed. "Okay, fine, you all can come." They all loaded into the back of the police cruiser and they rushed to the hospital. Dhani was shaking the whole ride there. "Please be okay, daddy," he was muttering. "Please be okay, please be okay."


End file.
